The last net worth update for 2017 ends with a… whimper.
Down nearly $12K!
A few things happened in December.
Firstly and most damaging to the net worth drop this month was some repair work (more about this to come) that was done to one of my investment properties.
I am covered by insurance but I had to fork out just over $10K to cover it before the insurer could refund me.
This emphasises a point I always tell people who are thinking about investing in property. You need a big buffer when things go wrong. Even with insurance, it can be hard sometimes to cover yourself until the insurer comes to the party. That’s why we have such a big cash buffer. Having 3 properties has the potential to have big expenses.
The other big one for December was a holiday that we booked for August 2018. We paid for everyone flights because it was just easier that way. They are going to pay us back their share so that’s probably another $1.5K-$2K.
Did everyone have a good time over the Christmas break?
Between my own job and Mrs. Firebug’s job, I went to about 5 Christmas break up parties lol.
My job had a social club one, an official one that was on a Thursday (wtf were they thinking) and we had another unofficial one at the pub on the last day).
So between all the parties/birthdays/Christmas and new years eve festivities.
It’s safe to say that the budget was blown out just a little.
It was a relatively quiet Christmas break this year. The best part for me was there was minimal traveling.
Nothing worse than having to spend half of Christmas day driving to and from a destination that’s >1 hour away. We stayed local for Christmas and new years which was awesome. It meant I could ride my electric bike to each location within the town.
The Beast
One of my favorite things to do when it’s good weather is to ride my E-Bike all over town. Puts me in a great mood and makes traveling fun.
We started 2017 with a net worth of $258,857 and ended it at $400,877 meaning we added $142,020 bucks! 😱🤑👊
Bring on 2018!
Net Worth Update
Super had a very good month over December. We added around $4K for both our accounts combined. I’m not sure if this is because of the markets doing well, a dividend payout maybe, or our employers adding in an extra Super pay (we had three paydays at the end of November instead of the normal two).
Our cash savings took the biggest hit due to a repair bill and holiday that was booked and ETFs didn’t really do much for December, only moving up about $350 bucks.
Properties
No changes in the properties this month.
*DISCLAIMER*
Various data sources (RP data, Domain.com etc.) are used in combination of what similar surrounding properties were sold for to calculate an estimate. This is an official Commonwealth bank estimate and one which they use to approve loans.
ETFs
Not much happening here. VAS was the only ETF that went up during December with the other two (VTS and VEU) going down. About $350 all up for the month
Networth
Fantastic, you are absolutely killing it in 2017. You will do even better in 2018. Well done to you both. Keep up the excellent work. Always love reading your blogs. Cheers
Will do BHL 👊
If someone owes you money (e.g. for flights) I’m sure you can count it as part of your net worth.
I have an asset account called ‘owed to us’ that I count towards our net worth. I would transfer the cost of plane tickets for other like this into this account then clear it when they pay me back. It also reminds me that they need to pay me back 😁
I could…but it’s just easier to report on exactly what’s in my account when I do these updates.
If I keep track of money owing or money owed and calculate it each month there’s more room for errors.
This is a simpler way of doing it even if it’s not 100% accurate.
Are you concerned about the gearing levels of your investment properties? Looks live your LVR is around 80%. Any more than that and you will have trouble refinancing if required without LMI. What state of Australia are your properties in?
Hi Mawer Money,
80% LVR is where I’m comfortable. The LVR is not overly important to me though.
I care a lot more about the cash flow and all my properties are cash flow positive.
The properties are in VIC and QLD mate.
The power of compound interest is always a pleasure to watch – it took you 5.5 years to reach to 200k net worth (2011 till Jun 2016) and another 200k (from 200k-400k) for only 1.5 years. Brilliant !!
Compounding + leverage can be a powerful tool if used correctly. It also helped that real estate has been rising since I first bought (2012)
Did you end up transferring your ETF portfolio to Self Wealth?
Currently transferring as we speak mate (have lodged the form just waiting for them. I think they have just got back from NY break). Will be done by next months update for sure!
“The beast” has piqued my interest.
I’m glad someone noticed her.
Any questions you might have Phil?
I have built 4 electric bikes in the past, ‘The Beast’ is by far the best to date though.
Maybe the beast deserves its own post?
Haha really? Could be fun…
Yes! Definately!
Fantastic!! Well done. This blog is very inspiring to me as i’m on my own FI path. Keep up the great work.
No worries RC.
I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog 🙂
Seconded!
You absolutely killed it in 2017! Well done. Very interested to see how your ETFs have gone. I have VTS and have done very well with them over the last year. Would love to get some VAS also.
Hmmm maybe I should post the yearly performance?
I mean…you can get that from Google anyway right?
Man, that bike is killer.
And what’s this you build them? That’s even cooler!
We have lots of fun just riding regular bikes around, now that we moved to a quieter area 🙂
Well done on the big year. Maybe in 2018 you’ll hit the half-mill!?
I’m so glad the bikes a hit. Maybe a post a little video about it haha.
Half a mil is definitely a goal by the end of the year. I’d be pretty disappointed if we didn’t reach it, to be honest.
I’d be interested in a post on yearly performance. Even though it may be available, I won’t actively go looking on Google. Reading blog posts is a way for information to come to me passively; then I may do more research for myself (but I don’t know if I’m your target audience…)
Fair enough.
Yearly performance post coming up!
I wouldn’t mind to hear about that e-bike too…
Just found you’re page after listening to the rent-vesting podcast (you had some great tips on there). My partner and I are rentvesters, planning on IP #2 at the moment and tightening up the finances, it’s great to read about other millennials successfully implementing this same strategy. Keep it up!
Thanks Belle, will do 🙂
Wow that’s a great snapshot of your Net Worth increase from nothing to over $400k! And massive increase for 2017, that’s the beautiful thing about increasing your net worth – the increases just get bigger and bigger!
That’s a decent holding in EFT’s as well, hopefully the market keeps ticking along after such a good run the last few years. I used to hold VEU as well but am now happy to forgo a little extra diversification for more Aussie Fully-Franked dividends!
Thanks, Frankie.
Compounding interest is a powerful thing 🙂
Aussie franked dividends are fantastic but I wonder how well Australia does over the next 10 years compared to the rest of the world. Do you think an Australian recession may significantly impact the returns on your Australia shares?
Only time will tell I guess.
My perspective is that I have absolutely no idea how Australia will do compared to the rest of the world, so without a crystal ball, I’ll happily take the competitive (tax) advantage we have in our home country from franking credits, especially in a tax-free account – that bonus 43% of dividends has a massive impact on your annual returns!
Seems to have been a great year Aussie Firebug! Pretty amazing to be growing your net worth 5-figures + each month! 🙂
The bike btw is awesome, do you ride it to work as your daily commuter?
Yep we had an epic year in 2017!
I love my bike! I don’t ride it to work unfortunately. Work is just that little bit too far and I car pool so it’s not too bad. But as soon as I get home from work, I usually look for an excuse to hop on and burn around town.
“Hey honey, do you need anything from the supermarket? No worries, I’ll pop on down”
Hi firebug,
Just wanted to ask what is your etf ratio(vts,veu,vas) going forward into 2018.
It looks like your growing your vas shares.
Cheers
As of right now it’s going to be 40%(VAS), 30%(VEU), 30%(VTS).
But watch this space. Seriously considering just buying VDHG and calling it a day.
Hey dude, great blog!
What do you do for work? Are you in financial services?
IT in local government Tim 🤓